The Dark Side
by Saffidl Zabini
Summary: Hermione knows she must join the 'Dark Side' as a spy in order to help Harry, Ron, herself, and all of the other innocent people survive and win the War. She figures her only way to do this, though, is to "date" Draco Malfoy. The trouble? Hermione quickly starts to lose sight of the difference between true love and fake affection, which could take many lives, including her own.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok...so I was in the shower one day and I was hit with this wonderful, creative, and never-before thought of (although I can't guarantee that!) idea for a Dramione FanFic. I brainstormed it further and now have in my mind the awesomest map of a story that I have ever created (and let me tell you: I write A TON of stories. My mom's laptop shut down I had so many stories on it - I'm really not kidding. So yeah, I think this is a pretty terrific idea!) I worried, though, about having too many stories on my plate at once, but I just couldn't wait to finish another FanFic to write this one. So I've decided that I am going to put this story out there for all of you to see, even though I'll now have 3 FanFiction stories at once; I'm confident that this is really truly a fantastic idea!** **Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling came up with the Harry Potter idea, not me :(. But this plot is COMPLETELY my own!** "Hermione!" Mrs. Granger called from the kitchen of the cottage her and her husband lived in. "Come quickly, dear, Mrs. Weasley will be here any minute now!" "I know! I'm coming!" Hermione answered. The 16-year old Hermione zipped up her bright red suitcase and turned off the light in her periwinkle-colored room. "Bye, room." Hermione said to herself, knowing that she was going to miss this space as she attended Hogwarts for her sixth year. "Come on, Hermione!" Mrs. Granger cried once again. Hermione closed the door to her bedroom, and walked downstairs to her mother's small and cozy kitchen. Her father was sitting in his favorite worn-down armchair reading the day's newspaper, and her mum was stirring the pot of homemade corn chowder as she dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief. "Oh, Hermione. I love you so much. You have no idea how much your father and I miss you when you're away at school." "Mum, I do. I miss you guys so much! Sometimes I'm envious of Ron since he has so many siblings and family members at the school." Hermione really did miss her family, especially her mum, when she was away at Hogwarts. "Sweetie, you know that having more family members does not make a family's love for each other stronger, though. It is the passion that the people in the family have for each other tha-" "Mum, I know...but I need to go. I see Ron out in the driveway." Hermione interrupted her mother, sadly at that. "Yes, yes, of course. Hermione..." Mrs. Granger slipped around the corner and squeezed her daughter very tightly. "Have fun out there. Your last memories as a child and teen are going to be soon." "Yes, I know." Hermione hugged her mother back. "I love you, mum!" She called as she loosened her grip and ran across the room to her father. "Dad, I'm going to miss you!" Hermione leaned down and kissed her father on the forehead. "Yes, my dear. You know I don't really believe in this whole wizard thing though. Have fun doing whatever you do at Pigwart, nonetheless, darling." Her father smiled and his eyes twinkled. Hermione had definitely inherited his eyes. The young Granger laughed. "It's Hogwarts, Dad! Don't let any wizards hear you say that!" "Oh, of course. And I know that it is the real deal, but I can't help wishing you were going to the same school your mother and I met in..." "Ok, Dad. I love you so much! Write letters to me, both of you!" Hermione stood up and went to the door. "I'm really going to miss you guys!" She left the house, taking deep breaths. "Hey, Hermione." Ron smiled at her, and then out of the blue came very close to her and started to press his lips lightly against hers. "Ron..Ron, stop." Hermione pulled away. "I'm sorry, but I just don't feel this way about you." "Oh, ok, Hermione. If you ever come around and want to date me, though, I'd love to!" He skipped ahead to the portkey that would take them to the Burrow. "Yeah...sure." Hermione seriously doubted she'd ever really have feelings for Ron, though. She was just glad that she didn't hurt their friendship as far as she could tell by telling him she wasn't interested, at the least. She got up to the portkey and held on tightly. The two of them hurled through the air and eventually landed about a football-field away from the Weasleys' home. "Come on, let's go!" Ron called, trudging ahead of Hermione who was deep in thought. With just the first few minutes she'd had with Ron, she could already tell that this was about to be a very crazy year. 


	2. Dumbledore's Office

**Chapter 2! **

**J.K. Rowling's characters and ideas (except for the actual plot)!**

'Hermione' seemed to be the word of the day at the Weasleys'. Everyone that was going to Hogwarts with them had already been there for at least a day when she arrived, so she was the main attraction for everybody, and that was a lot of people. But finally, the time came when she was pushed out the front door and piled into an escort car on the way to King's Cross Station.

Slowly, all of the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione got out of the car and stood in front of the pillar they'd have to run through.

"So, Hermione," Harry started. "I haven't really gotten to talk to you at all today."

"Yeah, I didn't even see you at the Burrow! Where were you?" Hermione had actually just been pondering Harry's situation.

"Well, something happened during the summer that kinda...kinda freaked me out."

"Uh-huh..." Hermione knew he was being serious.

"There was a sort of...incident. The Dursleys' home was attacked. I guess Voldemort wanted to scare me, and he killed them. All of them; Dudley, Vernon, and Petunia. I was able to get away fast enough without being harmed, but I was scared. Voldemort...he did come. It was just him, and he grabbed me. He told me that he was after us. That we'd have to fight hard to survive. That if he won, he'd torture us to death with a curse he's just made up." Harry refused to make eye contact with Hermione.

"Where did you go after the house was destroyed? How'd you get away from Voldemort?" Hermione's eyes widened.

"He just...vanished. I think he didn't want to kill me then. I ran really hard and REALLY long after that, and I made it to this house that seemed a lot like one I'd been to before. I ran up and knocked on the front door, and guess who answered? Filch! Although he hates me, he let me come in and have some tea and biscuits. Then I Apparated from there to the Weasleys'. I stayed with them for the month of summer we had left, not daring to send any letters or signals to you at all. I knew that anything could be intercepted and used against us."

"Harry, I know that must've been really hard for you, but to be perfectly honest, I think that it was kinda good that this all happened; we know now that Voldemort is definitely planning a war, and from here on out all we can focus on will be defeating Voldemort. Let's get to Hogwarts and see Dumbledore. I'm sure that he'll understand the situation and won't mind if we miss a few classes, as long as we get all of the work done of course. I'll come up with a plan soon enough that'll help us get ahead of the game and eventually win this war." Hermione found herself giving a long speech in a short amount of time.

"Yeah, ok." Harry finally looked up at Hermione and gave her a hug. "You're a great friend, 'Mione. Let's go."

"Thanks!" Hermione let go of Harry and ran at the column, with Harry following. The two ended up looking directly at the magnificent, scarlet, gleaming Hogwarts Express.

Harry and Hermione found Ron and quickly got into the train and loaded their stuff into the best compartment there was; right next to the candy cart, not too far from the bathrooms, far, far away from the Slytherins, and a super large window. Ginny joined them in the top-notch seats.

After they all were settled and the train was moving, Harry and Ginny scooted towards each other. Hermione shot a questioning look at Ron, who whispered into her ear. "They announced that they were dating over the summer." Ron explained.

Hermione nodded. To be perfectly honest, she was surprised that Ginny was even interested in Harry, after her and Ginny's "talk" in first year. After that little conversation, where Hermione told Ginny to be herself and let other guys date her without always secretly loving Harry, Hermione honestly thought that Ginny would lose her crush on Harry and eventually marry someone else; heck, Hermione didn't think Ginny and Harry would ever date at all!

It was a little awkward for Hermione, since Ginny was practically sitting in Harry's lap and they were really flirting, especially since she wasn't sure about Ron's feelings for her. It was only a couple of hours into the beginning of her social life in sixth year and it seemed like everyone had fallen in love over the summer! All of these new emotions were, quite truly, giving Hermione a headache. She was relieved when the express pulled to a stop and they all trudged off, separating Harry and Ginny.

The usual ritual was followed; first years were sorted, and Hermione thought that there were some intelligent faces sorted into Gryffindor, and then Dumbledore gave a speech. Then the feast began, and after that came dinner, and then everyone went to their rooms.

There was a new system in place this year about the roommates, though. Everyone got to pick one roommate that was in their house, no matter the age yet they had to be the same gender, and that would be their roommate for the whole year unless something came up and things had to change. Hermione and Ginny instantly picked each other, and so did Harry and Ron. Then the four of them headed upstairs to the Gryffindor Tower.

"Wow, I can't believe we're already starting this year of school! The summer passed by so quickly." Ginny commented.

"I know, but I have a feeling this is going to be a strange school year. I just can't believe I'm in sixth year and you're in fifth year!" Hermione replied.

"Yeah, with what happened to Harry over the summer...I'll be quite honest; I was freaked out when he told us about that. It just proved that Voldemort really is out to get him, and along with Harry us, too."

"Totally. I told Harry that we need to have a plan to prepare for this war, starting now. I'm still figuring it out, but I think I have an idea."

"What's your idea?"

"Well, we need a way to get one of us over onto the 'Dark Side' as a spy. I don't mean getting the Death Mark or anything, but more like getting to know bits and pieces of Voldemort's plan to help Harry win this war."

"That sounds like it could work. How in the world are we going to get one of us to be on their side as a spy though?"

"I have no idea."

The two girls slipped into their beds and fell asleep immediately. It had been a long day, and Hermione hadn't even gotten to talk to Ginny about Ron yet.

The next morning when the two young girls woke up, it was eerily silent in the tower.

"Hermione?" Ginny started.

"Yeah?"

"I, um...well, Ron told me that he took a liking to you over the summer. He said he was going to ask you to go out with him...and I didn't know if he had done that yet."

"Oh...yeah, he did."

"What'd you say?" Ginny asked eagerly.

"I...I said I didn't want to. I just don't feel that way about him." Hermione felt a bit uncomfortable.

"That's fine. To be honest, I didn't really want you dating him."

"How come?"

"Well, what if it messed stuff up between you two? It could totally destroy a friendship if something went wrong."

"I know. Gin, do you want to go get breakfast?"

"Sure!"

Hermione and Ginny got dressed and then started down to the Great Hall. Everyone else, it seemed, in the castle was asleep, except for the occasional student or two.

Hermione grabbed a ripe peach, a bowl of Secret Spells Cereal, and a glass of orange juice, and then sat down. Ginny was facing her but must've been pretty hungry since she hardly spoke at all, leaving Hermione to her thoughts.

_A plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan a plan..._Hermione kept thinking again and again about how she could get herself or one of her closest friends as a spy. What could I do? Out of Harry, Ron, Ginny, and I, I think I should be the spy. But how?

"Hey, guys!" Ron came up and broke the silence.

Harry sat down next to Hermione. "So, have you thought of a plan yet? I told Ron about how you said we should make a plan. Do you have any ideas?"

"Yes, I thought that maybe we should figure out a way for me to become a spy. I could convince the Death Eaters that I was loyal to them and then figure out all sorts of bits and pieces of Voldemort's plan for the war. The trouble is that I just don't know how in the world I'm going to even get to be a spy without them suspecting me."

"Yeah...that's hard. Keep on thinking, I'll think too."

"Ok."

After some small talk and munching on breakfast, the foursome got up and went to their first class, which was Potions for Harry, Hermione and Ron (Ginny was at Defense Against the Dark Arts). Unfortunately, it was both the Gryffindors and Slytherins.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts." Snape drawled. "Everyone take out your textbooks."

The Slytherins at the front of the room smiled. "Yes, Professor Snape." They smirked.

"Now turn to page four-hundred and thirty-two. We are going to be making the Polyjuice Potion today, and I made lab groups for everyone. They are posted on the board." With a flick of his wand, Snape had put tons of writing on the chalkboard at the front of the classroom. Hermione searched for her name, also winking to Ron and Harry whom she had made this very potion with four years before.

_Group 4:_

_Millicent Bulstrode_

_Hermione Granger_

_Draco Malfoy_

_Harry Potter_

"Seriously? Malfoy and Millicent? What does Snape have against us?" Harry complained.

"Everything." Hermione curtly answered.

The two of them walked up to meet the Slytherins and eventually sat at the table nearest the fogged and heavily-curtained windows.

"I would like the Gryffindors to read the instructions and let the Slytherins follow them and also drink the potion at the end of class. The Slytherins will be the Gryffindors." Snape announced to the students. "Now work! 10 points from Gryffindor for making everyone start late!" All of the Gryffindors groaned.

Harry and Hermione got situated.

"So, Millicent you'll drink the potion and turn into one of me and Malfoy will turn into Harry." Hermione started.

"Ughh. Do I have to be Potty?" Draco complained.

"Yes. Now, are you guys ready to start following directions?" Hermione asked, situating herself and the book.

"Yeah." Malfoy answered snottily.

"Ok, step one..."

The class went on like this for a while, Hermione and Harry getting very bored very quickly. Finally, the potion was complete and all Malfoy and Millicent had to do was pull a piece of hair off of each of the Gryffindors' heads and put it in the potion. After slowly and painfully pulling each hair, Millicent got a small glass and put some of the potion in it, and then added Hermione's hair. She gulped the liquid down and quickly started to transform into Hermione.

Next, Malfoy grabbed Harry's hair and thrusted it into his cup of Polyjuice Potion, and quickly chugged it. He too transformed immediately.

Snape came by and scored the team on their work, leaving off a couple points since the people the Slytherins turned into were 'so disturbingly ugly'. Finally, the class was over.

As Hermione was just walking out the door, Harry came up to her, but Hermione soon realized it was Malfoy, still feeling the affects of the Polyjuice Potion.

"Granger."

"What?" Hermione snapped at Draco, really not wanting to have to deal with him right then.

"Snape gave me this note. It says we have to both see Dumbledore at once, together. If you're wondering why, I have no idea." He explained.

"Oh. Ok, I guess I have to go." Hermione nodded and told Harry and Ron that she had to go see Dumbledore for something. Then she and Draco started to walk down the hall together, overwhelmed by the eery silence since everyone else was in class.

Once the two of them got to the large stone gargoyles that stood vigilantly in front of Dumbledore's office, they stopped.

"Do you know the password?" Draco asked.

"No. It's usually a candy, though."

"Let's try Fizzing Whizbee."

"Ok."

"Fizzing Whizbee."

Surprisingly enough, the door creaked open. Hermione and Draco started up the spiral staircase in single-file order, and then came to Dumbledore's office. They walked inside and sat on the two comfy chairs that faced the other side of his desk.

"Welcome, Miss Granger and...Mr. Potter?"

"Oh..I'm Draco, we just had Polyjuice Potion in Potions." Draco explained.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Ah, yes. Anyhow, you two are probably wondering why in the name of Merlin I have called you here, and at such an early start to the school year."

Hermione nodded, and found herself watching Draco to see if he nodded too, which he did.

"Well, I must assure you that you are not in any sort of trouble. I just have a...a quick question for the two of you."

There was a long pause.

"I need your help. There was someone at the Ministry that got into the teacher files and changed the salaries, job requirements, and work hours for the teachers here. Now I've got a load of teachers all mad saying they need a higher salary, less teaching time, and shouldn't have had to go through the extensive training program provided when they first got the jobs! I need help to figure out who this person was and what they have against Hogwarts."

Hermione was excited. "It sounds like a mystery almost! But why the two of us?"

Dumbledore looked surprised. "Oh. Well, I though you'd know why I picked you...Miss Granger, you're the top student in this school. And Mr. Malfoy, you are exceptionally smart as well, being the second best after Hermione, yet you also possess this certain...charisma that tends to bring out an enthusiastic and clever mind that is necessary for solving this case. Do you two think you could help me?"

"I'd love to!" Hermione exclaimed.

"And Mr. Malfoy?"

"Sure, I guess." Draco responded, averting his eyes from Dumbledore's half-moon glasses.

Dumbledore clapped. "Perfect! Now, the two of you are going to have to meet me at the Astronomy Tower every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 6 p.m. sharp. Do you understand?"

"Yes!" Hermione smiled and started to get up.

"Ah ah ah, Hermione. Please sit again." Dumbledore requested.

"Oh, ok."

Dumbledore continued. "I have one more thing to say; I expect you guys to tell your closest friends about this, but please do not tell anyone else. I don't want this spreading across the entire school."

The next morning when Hermione entered the Great Hall for breakfast, there was some exciting news spreading across the entire school. And Hermione hadn't spilled, not even to Harry and Ron (she _had_ to tell Ginny about what happened). It was obviously Malfoy. Stinking, annoying, bloody Malfoy had told everyone at Hogwarts the one thing Dumbledore didn't want told.


End file.
